LOS ANGELES - Raging wildfires surrounding Los Angeles spread to the Hollywood Hills on Jan 8, after other fires in the area killed at least five people, destroyed hundreds of homes, and stretched firefighting resources and water supplies to the limit.
Over 100,000 people were ordered to evacuate as dry, hurricane-force winds hindered firefighting operations and spread the fires, which have burned parched terrain almost unimpeded since they began on Jan 7.
“This firestorm is the big one,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told a press conference after rushing back to the city upon cutting short an official trip to Ghana.
A new fire broke out in the Hollywood Hills on the evening of Jan 8, fire chief Kristin Crowley told a press conference, forcing more evacuations and raising the number of wildfires burning in Los Angeles County to at least six.
Four of them were zero percent contained, according to state officials, including a pair of major conflagrations on the eastern and western flanks of the city that continued to grow as night fell on Jan 8
In between, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said that the so-called Sunset Fire in Hollywood Hills scorched 20 hectares on Jan 8. Helicopter crews doused the flames with water drops, impeding its rapid advance.
The Los Angeles Fire Department issued an evacuation order for people in an area within Hollywood Boulevard to the south, Mulholland Drive to the north, the 101 Freeway to the east and Laurel Canyon Boulevard to the west – all iconic addresses for people in the entertainment industry.
Within that area is the Dolby Theatre, where the Oscars are held. Next week’s Oscar nominations announcement has already been postponed by two days because of the fire, organisers said.
Though relatively small compared to the others, the Sunset Fire burned just above Hollywood Boulevard and its Walk of Fame. It would need to cross the 101 Freeway to endanger the Hollywood sign and Griffith Observatory further up in the hills.
Nearby, a structure fire claimed at least two homes and spread to brush in Studio City, live television footage showed. More than 50 firefighters extinguished the fire with no injuries reported, the LA Fire Department said.
Smouldering ruins
On the west side of Los Angeles, the Palisades Fire consumed 6,406 hectares and hundreds of structures in the hills between Santa Monica and Malibu, racing down Topanga Canyon until reaching the Pacific Ocean on Jan 7.
Aerial video by KTLA television showed block after block of smouldering homes in Pacific Palisades, the smoky grid occasionally punctuated by the orange blaze of another home still on fire.
To the east, in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, the Eaton Fire has claimed 4,289 hectares, 1,000 structures, and killed at least five people, officials said.
Three people had been arrested for looting, law enforcement officials said.
Private forecaster AccuWeather estimated initial damage and economic loss at more than US$50 billion (S$68.4 billion).
“We’re facing a historic natural disaster. And I think that can’t be stated strong enough,” Mr Kevin McGowan, director of emergency management for Los Angeles County, told a press conference.
To the east, in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, the Eaton Fire has claimed 4,289 hectares, 1,000 structures, and killed at least five people, officials said.
Three people had been arrested for looting, law enforcement officials said.
Private forecaster AccuWeather estimated initial damage and economic loss at more than US$50 billion (S$68.4 billion).
“We’re facing a historic natural disaster. And I think that can’t be stated strong enough,” Mr Kevin McGowan, director of emergency management for Los Angeles County, told a press conference.
Pacific Palisades relies on three tanks that hold about 3.78 million litres each, and the demand for water to fight fires at lower elevations was making it difficult to refill water tanks at higher elevations, she said. By the afternoon of Jan 8, all three of those tanks and all 114 reservoirs throughout the city were refilled, Ms Quinones said in a later press conference.
The fires struck at an especially vulnerable time for Southern California, which has not seen significant rainfall for months.
Then came the powerful Santa Ana winds, bringing dry desert air from the east toward the coastal mountains, fanning wildfires while blowing over the hilltops and down through the canyons.
US President Joe Biden, who declared the fires a major disaster, joined California Governor Gavin Newsom at a Santa Monica fire station to get a briefing on firefighting efforts.
In his final days as president before handing off to President-elect Donald Trump on Jan 20, Mr Biden cancelled an upcoming trip to Italy in order to focus on directing the federal response to the fires, the White House said. REUTER
Source Straits Times
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